Political protests have dogged the Jerusalem String Quartet because of its association with the armed forces of its native Israel, including at a 2007 concert at the Library of Congress. Perhaps by going outside Washington, to the partially filled Barns at Wolf Trap on Friday night, the group avoided such trouble. Foreign policy grumblings, if there were any, vanished when the group played quartets by Beethoven, Debussy and Shostakovich.

This fine quartet, formed in 1993 when the members were conservatory students in Jerusalem, has made a series of recordings for Harmonia Mundi, none better than a pair of discs of Shostakovich quartets. No surprise, then, that Shostakovich’s eighth quartet stood out on this program, too, for the vigor of the interpretation, which kept one on the edge of one’s seat, and the overall quality of playing from all four musicians in dazzling coordination. [Continue reading]